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http://icati.catishack.com/uploads/MariaCabrera/MariaCabrera-15136571043-20140911-1410398652.618.mp3Today in class for our interview my interviewee was asked to tell me how her life would be if she was the opposite sex. She said that she would be able to not she does her emotions as much as she does right know that she is a girl. At parties she would not be called slut or be judged for being art the party.For me my life would be different because i would not have my mom asking me to have kids and get married. I would not get judged for dating people. I would be like my little brother because he acts like me and looks like me.
Nick Nakashian
Chapter 3 dealt with the idea of gender difference and gender inequality from culture to culture as well as the varying interpretation of gender in some cultures. In many cultures that have a strong presence of gender difference, sexual inequality usually followed with a male dominated and female suppressed society. In some African cultures where male dominance is high as well as sexual segregation, female circumcision is a commonly practiced ritual. During my interview my interviewee and myself discussed whether of not female circumcision was a practice that frankly should be practice. My interviewee felt that it served no purpose other than to further male dominance in the society and had no practical means, therefore should not be practiced. When asked I asked my interviewee if she felt it was ethnocentric to feel this way, she responded that if there was no real benefit to the procedure and it was causing these women harm (which it often does) then it transcends into a global humanity issue. Also the chapter discussed cultures that allow members to sometimes freely move between genders with a high respect for the act. However, here in American this is something that is often times not met with the same respect. Such is the case in a recent rule mandated by face book, which requires to use their legal names or face their profiles being deleted, this has been met with strong backlash from the drag queen stage community because their show names are often female and these men have developed personalities around their stage names.
Margaret Klassen
In this week's readings the author talks about different African tribes and the different sex habits, or rituals that they have. Our current event or topic in class was on genital mutilation for both men and women. The two subjects relate, because in the text book the author talks about how some tribes practice female circumcision as a way to ensure that a women is faithful to her husband. During my interview it was discussed that in our society we are more excepting of male circumcision, and that it is a part of our American culture. While female circumcision is seen in a negative light and is considered genital mutilation, so reasons discussed were that it is not done when the child is an infant, it is not done in a medical and safe setting, and it is done as a way to control the females sexual pleasure.
For this interview, my respondents question is, "Is it a violation of human rights if a parent chooses female circumcision or male circumcision?" The interviewee has not thought about this in real life terms, however, she recalled an episode of criminal minds where this situation (female circumcision) was in the story line. The interviewee claims that male circumcision is more hygienic than medically necessary. Furthermore, the interviewee stated that if she were to give birth to a son, she would have her son circumcised, due to it being more hygienic. Finally, the interviewee claims, in regarding to female circumcision, that men get more pleasure, when pleasuring their female partners. So the lack of practice of female circumcision in the U.S. is a positive one.
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Erin Cavazos
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This week during class we discussed if gender was more biological or sociological. When I asked my partner what he explained that he believed it was more biological. He believes this partially due to the fact that men naturally grow bigger. There are some women who are going to be naturally more fit than men and some men who are naturally going to be scrawny. However, the majority of men are naturally built to be more masculine than women. As a result men take on the role of being the "protectors" while some women seek to find men to provide that protection. He admits that society does have a big impact on gender but it is primarily biological.
In class, we have been going over the distinctions of gender and whether it is based on sociological values or biological means. In the textbook, they also go over the comparison of basing gender on social or biological means. I interviewed a Caucasian female on Wednesday to discuss her beliefs on gender values. The interviewee stated that she believes gender is based mostly on social values. There are some distinctions that are based on biological means but most of them are learned through our culture. I, the interviewer, also believe that gender is based on social factors. As a college student, we experience many things in our daily lives, especially gender roles. I believe that we are in a prime time of our lives where we get to develop and shape who we want to be. There has been a lot of speculation in the media that has to do with gender identity. There was a recent article where the Department of Motor Vehicles would not allow an individual to take his ID picture because he was wearing make-up. The reason they fought this was because they said we had to be represented how we look in our everyday life. For this particular individual, he identified himself as a woman and he looked like a woman every day. I spoke with the interviewee about different aspects of gender and why we think the way we do. She claimed that she believes we identify with a specific gender based on culture and the society we grow up in. This is also true to say that we learn how to act based on our surroundings and the way that we learn and grow. There is a view of hegemonic masculinity that goes against this and says that there is only one way to act masculine and that is how men should act. The same goes for females and the idea of emphasized femininity. The idea is based around how women should act and in doing so appeal to the needs and desires of men.
Kayla Forte
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My interviewee and I discussed whether gender was brought about by society or by biology. We concurred that it was a societal influence—that if a person is taught that one behavior is normal in a certain society, they are more likely to exhibit those behaviors. Humans are adaptable creatures. The interviewee made the argument that, especially with the way that gender is evolving on a societal level here, it's becoming more and more obvious that it is a social construct. Much of what decides our representation of our genders is the way we interact with not just our families, but at school and other such places; anywhere we interact with people.
This is in concurrence with the general opinions of what we are learning in class. Biology, while it certainly a significant factor in our lives, is not what governs our behavior; it is society. In her speech at the UN headquarters in New York, Emma Watson points out the issues related to this issue, saying that "In the UK suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20-49; eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I've seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success." This fragility would not be the case if there was not a societal expectation of men that is contrary to people's personalities; conflict between personal expression and societal expectations should not be as stark at it is currently. This conflict affects women as well, pressuring them to conform to more feminine pursuits and behaviors, even if their own personal inclinations would lead them elsewhere.
Heather McDermott Participation
When asked if gender is biologically or socially determined my respondent stated that she believed it's a little bit of both. She indicated that there are certain social aspects that make you the way you are depending on how you are raised and that it develops you in little ways in regards to the way you view yourself and the sex you are. However, she believes that biology is the major determinant of a person's gender, that your gender is something you're born with and that it happens at birth. You are born the way you are and the way you're supposed to be. She believes that once you're born you're pre-determined to be that particular gender. Although nurture does play a part in determining your gender, the nature aspect of your gender tends to determine the way you are nurtured. She did point out that there are a few occasions were a person can go 30 or 40 years of their life and then change their mind. None the less, nature and thereby biology is the major proponent of what gender you are and nurture just tends to follow behind it.
http://icati.catishack.com/uploads/HeatherMcDermott/HeatherMcDermott-12096617218-20140918-1411004453.1134.mp3 (The recording got cut off part way through)
I conducted an interview on September 17th and my question to my interviewee was: "Is gender biologically or socially learned?" According to my interviewee, gender is mostly socially determined, but sometimes it can be a mixture of both sociological and biological. Specifically speaking of gender she believes that societies have different gender roles and that categorizes into different genders. Other than society, my interviewee believes that there are many cultures and according to each culture men and women are expected to act differently. She thinks that it's sociologically determined because of society and cultural differences that have different roles for different genders. She also mentioned that there are some things that are biological because men and women act different. She gives an example of men being physically stronger than women, but that's only because of they're biology.
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On Wednesday the 17th we conducted an interview discussing whether gender is biological or socially learned. My interviewee and I both agreed that biology and social ways both contribute to how someone's gender is perceived. My Interviewee discussed the ideas that all though we are born of a certain sex, does not determine whether or not you are looked at as feminine or masculine but that it is also our culture and social groups that begin labeling things as masculine or feminine. My interviewee also brought up the idea that sometimes when we see parents rising a child who is male and begins to play with Barbie's and dolls they get told that toys such as those are meant for girls. This is an example shows that all though we are born of a biologically male or female it is the society that you grow up in that determines whether something is feminine or masculine this is one way we can see that gender is not solely learned biologically but that social aspects also have a huge in pack on shaping gender.
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Álvaro Sosa
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On September 17, my interviewee responded to the question: "Is gender biologically or socially learned?" She said that she believes that gender is a mixture of both biological and social interactions. Biological because among the sexes and while developing the internal genitalia produces different chemicals that make women or men to identify themselves with those who experience that same chemical reactions but that is too simple to be true, and thus the social interaction among men and women is another variable to be consider. I also believe that society or the close institutions in our society have an impact in the formation of gender because they have existed before us and thus usually follow a pattern that may or may not change among generations. Even when humans have created the definitions of a men and women, it seems that after some point in time the definitions create us and thus we no longer define them.
Kim Simonds
In my interview, I asked my interviewee if gender was based on biological or if it was based on social. She believes that it is based on social. My interviewee and I both agree that it is based on social. What we are taught from social institutions, especially from our parents. My interviewee claims that her parents played a different role as she was growing up. Her father was more emotional and shy than her mother. Her mother is more confrontational and stern. As the interview went on, in my interviewee's answers, there was a difference from what society claims as socially acceptable. However, while I was growing up, my family was the "traditional" norm of what was acceptable, my father was the disciplinarian, the bread winner, the more strict parent, as where my mother was the stay at home parent, the nurturer and the care giver. I then asked the interviewee if she thinks how her family dynamics made her the person she is today. She said that she is more like her mother, more open and confrontational. After the interview, it shoes how society sees the social norm from my generation to my interviewee's generation. ( I am much older than my interviewee) Times are changing, and that is a great thing to happen.
http://icati.catishack.com/uploads/KimSimonds/KimSimonds-14152302983-20140918-1411004441.1128.mp3
In my interview, my interviewee and I discussed whether gender is biological or socially learned. We both agreed that we don't think people are necessarily "born" with their gender. Although we are all born of a certain sex, our gender is mostly shaped by the world around us and how we perceive it. My interviewee shared that they think gender is something that would be hard to change. It depends more on whether the person is more masculine or more feminine. They mentioned that how the person is brought up is very important. We both have not known someone personally who has gone through a change in gender and we agreed this would probably have an impact on how we think about it. My interviewee also mentioned that they find it abnormal to go through something such as, feeling as if you were a different gender than your sex. In our parents' time, it wasn't discussed as much and people were taught that they were born either a boy or girl. However, in the present day, people are beginning to push that boundary. As more people cross that line, there will be a lax in steadfast rules regarding sex and gender.
Nick Nakashian Weekly Participation
During my interview, my interviewee and I discussed whether or not gender itself and later homosexuality was a trait that is biologically innate within us, or a socially learned behavior. We quickly agreed that gender was a socially learned trait, seeing that there are qualities of either gender that a member of the opposite can agree with, leading them to identify with their biological opposite. However when we discussed homosexuality, my interviewee and myself felt that it was a biological trait, or rather something that a gay individual is born with rather than assuming the trait later in life because of societal influence. The chapter also spends a significant time on explaining where homosexuality comes from. There was a large study done on monozygotic twins, or twins from the same egg. This study suggested that there is a large possibility that if one twin is homosexual, the other is as well, showing that it is an innate feature, rather than a characteristic learned from the forces of society. However, is gender the same way, a force of nature that cannot be changed? Sociologists disagree with this idea, and so does the now famous teenage Chase Culpepper, who is a man but wears makeup and was shamefully forced to remove it at the DMV for his driver's license photo. Unlike what the readings in the chapter and biology tells Chase about masculinity, he feels comfortable and natural outside the norms of society and has suffered embarrassing backlash because of it.
Extra Credit
Kayla Forte
Gender is a very interesting concept. It makes life complicated in some ways and simplifies it in others. As a female, I grew up with a kind of tom-boy attitude. My mom made me play every sport because she said I wouldn't know what I liked unless I tried it. As a young child I played t-ball and soccer. As I reached about eight years old I started to play basketball. As I aged, my taste in sports changed and now I am a soccer player and a dancer. I tried everything from cheerleading to flag football. When I was five my mom married my step dad and I gained an older brother. I always wanted to hang out with him and his guy friends. When I was 7, my mom had my little sister, things changed then. I always wanted to play with her with barbies and dolls and make up and play dress up. I never felt pressured by either of my parent to act or behave a certain way; they just wanted me to be happy. Now that I am older and on my own, my parents worry about me even more because I'm their little girl. I have noticed things like they let my brother go out all the time but are stricter when it comes to me. They think because he is a male that he can protect himself better and he is less likely to be a victim of a crime.
When I talked to my interview partner, she had the same views as me. She had grown up wanting to go into the army, but she felt that she didn't have the image because she was a female. She changed her dreams because of this image that we have made of females going into the army. She had grown up with two brothers and one sister, however; she has always gotten along with her brothers more than her sister. She has a daughter of her own and she says that if she had a son she would see how things would be different in how she raised them. She also believes that being a female in her major, which is sociology, makes it more challenging for her. She sees that more men are working in her field and that is why she went back to school so she can better her chances of making it in her career.
http://icati.catishack.com/uploads/KaylaForte/KaylaForte-15594731785-20140913-1410590536.734.mp3
Extra Credit
Gender is a very interesting concept. It makes life complicated in some ways and simplifies it in others. As a female, I grew up with a kind of tom-boy attitude. My mom made me play every sport because she said I wouldn't know what I liked unless I tried it. As a young child I played t-ball and soccer. As I reached about eight years old I started to play basketball. As I aged, my taste in sports changed and now I am a soccer player and a dancer. I tried everything from cheerleading to flag football. When I was five my mom married my step dad and I gained an older brother. I always wanted to hang out with him and his guy friends. When I was 7, my mom had my little sister, things changed then. I always wanted to play with her with barbies and dolls and make up and play dress up. I never felt pressured by either of my parent to act or behave a certain way; they just wanted me to be happy. Now that I am older and on my own, my parents worry about me even more because I'm their little girl. I have noticed things like they let my brother go out all the time but are stricter when it comes to me. They think because he is a male that he can protect himself better and he is less likely to be a victim of a crime.
When I talked to my interview partner, she had the same views as me. She had grown up wanting to go into the army, but she felt that she didn't have the image because she was a female. She changed her dreams because of this image that we have made of females going into the army. She had grown up with two brothers and one sister, however; she has always gotten along with her brothers more than her sister. She has a daughter of her own and she says that if she had a son she would see how things would be different in how she raised them. She also believes that being a female in her major, which is sociology, makes it more challenging for her. She sees that more men are working in her field and that is why she went back to school so she can better her chances of making it in her career.
Álvaro Sosa
As a Méxican who was raised by women, my aunts. I can tell you that they made it clear that being a man was different than a woman. It got to a point in which I hated men and consequently myself. I could see men and find their flaws but there were not just any flaws. These were the flaws that directly damaged women such as alcoholism. I was never able to see the good things men did or to question why they did it until I was taken out of the positions of my aunts. That happened when I immigrated to the U.S.
I had no father because he was killed when I was four years old and so this made me very susceptible to others and also because my mother left to the U.S. that same year to find a job to have the means to support her to children, my brother (the older one) and I. I remember to cry a lot. Every time that I was yell at by my aunts, I would just cry and say nothing. Then they would say "You are not a girl to be crying; Do not be gay;" (of course this was in Spanish). They would use more homophobic terms each time.
When my brother was yell at he would respond back and even if he was hit, he would lough instead of cry but because he would lough instead of cry they would hit him until he actually cried but the tears were not tears of pain but rather anger of not being able to hit back. Clearly there was something different among us. My brothers self-steam was demolish through beatings and mine through insults.
At the kitchen we were never encouraged to learn how to cook. We were never encourage to wash the clothing we used. Our cousins who were girls on the opposite were encourage to do all the above. Until this day, I still don't know how to cook even when I adore eating and live with roommates who don't cook either. It seems like there was something implanted or program to be this way. Certainly, If I were born a female under the same conditions very little of me (as male) would exist.
On Wednesday September 10, 2014, I interviewed an African American Fresno state student. The respondent said that his life would be different if he was born a female. The natural an obvious difference would be biological. His interaction with society would remain almost unchanged. His private life and closeness to his parents would not change either. He said that he was raised in the same manner as his sisters making it safe to say that the only main difference would be biological.
URL to access:http://icati.catishack.com/uploads/Alvaro/Alvaro-19164148360-20140911-1410398525.609.mp3Erin Cavazos
http://icati.catishack.com/uploads/ErinCavazos/ErinCavazos-18159275619-20140911-1410398588.616.mp3
I asked my interviewee how his life would be different if he were born a female. He explained that his life would be different due to the special treatment he receives from his family. He is one of three kids and he is the only male. Because he is the only boy his parents always treated him a little differently than his sisters. He was expected to be more successful and as a result they pushed and helped him more on his goals to go to college. He is the first in his family to attend college. He believes that college might have been an even more difficult task, or even impossible, if he had been another daughter. He explains that the majority of his support comes from his father. He believes that is he were a female, him and his father would not have had the same bond that they have today because it is the male bonding that has brought them so close together. He also talked a little bit about how girls are still inferior in society; therefore, he not only is aided by his family but also by society. He is grateful to be a male and enjoys the perks that it brings to his life.
Growing up there were very few things that my parents categorized as being for "boys". I was taught to act like a lady but I participated in all the things boys did. I've been camping since I was a baby and got my first dirt bike at age eight. To this day I could pitch a better tent than the majority of the guys I know. If I were born a male I think only some things would change. I would still participate in the same hobbies and activities and probably have the same group of friends. The one major thing that I think would be different is my career option. Right now I am in school to become a veterinarian; however, if I were a male I believe that my dad would want me to follow in his footsteps only go further than he has. I have been learning the business since I was eight years old and I am good at it, but because I'm "daddy's little girl" he wants me to do whatever make me happy. However, if I were a boy he would probably want me to follow in his footstep and eventually surpass him. Also, my parents have always been strict with me for fear of something bad happening. If I were a boy, I would probably have much more freedom than I do now. Even as an adult they put restrictions to keep me safe. These are the major things that I believe would be different if I were a boy.